


It Takes a Village

by BleatingGoat (Nat20)



Category: Flight Rising
Genre: Disabled Character, Gen, lost limbs, magic control, parenting attempts, protective parent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-02
Updated: 2019-03-02
Packaged: 2019-11-08 04:01:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17974088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nat20/pseuds/BleatingGoat
Summary: Two children are left on Lorcan's doorstep. A brief letter left with the children indicates they are royalty from another kingdom. Regardless, they are Lorcan's children now.





	1. Found

**Author's Note:**

> The first three chapters will be taken from where they were posted originally on Tumblr and moved over here. After that, the works will be fresh on AO3 and then transferred to Tumblr! They will probably become longer, too.

It was a rare occurrence, the rain. It came once in a blue moon with no real warning, sometimes while the sun was still out. It was a day Lorcan loved more than anything. Sitting outside their home, letting the rain hit their face. It brought back such wonderful memories of a simpler time.

Today, however, Lorcan had not indulged into the hobby. There was much work to be done. It was the beginning of the predicted wet season. The worms said so. Lorcan was working tirelessly at their desk, a few earthworms wiggling over their hands and whispering about the times the rains should come. Finally, the Dorans would not have to use precious, stored water for the crops. They could also replenish the water storage and give the underground rivers and lakes a rest.

A quick knock at the door made Lorcan freeze in their work, slowly looking up. The home was not very secure. It was right on one of the main paths to the heart of the kingdom. There was a single window to Lorcan’s back, but it faced a rock wall that sloped over the home and created part of the carved out attic. Lorcan took the home because it was small and quiet. Besides, Lorcan was not afraid of trespassers. They often made a wonderful meal.

Lorcan moved to the front door, opening it quietly. Their eyes scanned the area, finding a hooded figure waiting towards the end of the path right before it turned. Lorcan then looked down and found a large basket with a silk blanket draped over it, rain drops darkening the material. Curious, Lorcan picked up the basket with long arms, their fingers wrapping around the entirety of the basket. A single finger pulled the blanket out of the way. Lorcan’s eyes widened, mouth flaps opened to display countless rows of sharp teeth.

The two infants wiggled at the rain on their face, each wrapped in their own blanket with an emblem pinned to hold it in place. Letters beside each of them, with a piece of paper with quick scribbling lying in the middle. Lorcan didn’t look back at the figure and quickly retreated inside with the basket. They put the basket down on the table and opened the letters, three eyes focused on one each, the fourth studying the children.

Lorcan lowered the letters in disbelief. “Well,” they said, a soft smile coming to Lorcan’s strange mouth, “welcome home, little royalty.”


	2. Hospital Visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lorcan takes the children to Sedai to be checked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2, as taken from Tumblr.

Sedai held the two children in one hand. There was plenty of room for the girls to curl up around each other, using Sedai’s thumb as a pillow. It had been ages since Sedai had held such small children. In the wrong hands, these children could have been crushed.

“And you just found them?” Sedai asked, taking notes in two fresh charts.

“They were left on my doorstep by Beatrix, from another clan,” said Lorcan, fins twitching nervously. “Are the children alright?”

“Yes. Besides some minor issues, they are perfectly healthy. Well, this one needs some medical attention but otherwise she’s fine.” Sedai pointed with her pen to Elysia. “Usually stunted growth occurs with severe malnutrition. This, however, seems to have come about from another cause. Maybe magical. But I am confident she will grow up to be healthy, provided we are careful with diet and rearing.” Sedai tapped her pen to the table and stared at Lorcan. Lorcan stared back. “Are you sure you want to keep them? Children aren’t exactly earthworms, Lore.”

“They were left on my doorstep. I am responsible for their safety, health, and happiness.”

“We have a perfectly good orphanage.”

“And I respect Yaaziel for the good work he does, but these children are  _mine_.” Lorcan’s mouth flaps twitched and chewed on each other. It was an uncomfortable sight, but one that Sedai had grown accustomed to. “How do I feed them?”

“A dropper will work just fine for now. I can ask one of the fae doctors or nurses to visit daily to assist, if you would like. You will also need to clean around their head fins and their wings to prevent bacterial build-up. If you want them to be able to fly in the future.” A deep sigh escaped Sedai. “Lorcan-”

“I need a new home.”

“What?”

Lorcan blinked slowly. “I need a new home. A safer one where they can have a private room when they are older. What is a good temperature for fae? Should I get a crutch for Mattea?”

Sedai felt something twitch in her chest, a sensation that made her skin tingle and a smile break free from her lips. “One step at a time, Lore. One step at a time. I’ll write some instructions for you and some things to consider in the future. For now, let’s get them past infancy, alright?”

Lorcan blinked again. “Alright.”

“Go wait in the  _healthy_  waiting room. I’ll have something for you in the next twenty minutes.” Sedai transferred the children to Lorcan. Her heart nearly melting at the tender care Lorcan took when taking the faes into their smaller, longer hands. Lorcan held the girls close to their chest.

“I produce little body heat,” said Lorcan softly. “Are their blankets almost done washing?”

“I’ll have a nurse check and bring them to you when they are dry and warmed.” Sedai watched Lorcan leave the office, their tail closing the door behind them. She vigorously tapped her pen against the desk, chewing on the inside of her lip. She pressed the pen tip to a small box, radio static following.

“Lauri?”

“Yes, Dr. Sedai?”

“Please send one of our fae to my office, please. Immediately. Preferably one experienced with children.”

“Yes, Doctor.” The radio clicked off.


	3. Age Matters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Through the power of science, Sol discovers which child is the oldest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter to be taken from Tumblr.

Lorcan’s tails held the droppers, gently squeezing out pureed insects. The earthworms Lorcan so carefully cared for and loved had voluntarily offered themselves to the girls. They asked to be ground up and fed to the two small infants. Lorcan was hesitant but understood her family’s desires. They were packed with as much protein as cow milk or eggs. Not a full meal for small fae infants, but a great start. Mixed with some beetles, caterpillars and scorpions, the droppers were filled with everything needed to promote growth and health.

That didn’t make having to kill some of Lorcan’s own kind easier.

“Alright, I’m ready for one of them,” Sol said. He pushed a step-stool closer to Lorcan and hopped up the steps, holding out a wrinkled, small hand for one of the children. Lorcan hesitated for a few moments before handing over Mattea. Sol had to cup the fae in both hands, his large glasses reflecting her face. He hopped off of the step-stool and waddled over to his workbench, walking up a set of stairs commonly used to help dogs reach a bed.

Sol sat down on his workbench and put Mattea on a folded up towel. He then took out the needle.

Lorcan hissed, mouth flaps opening to show dangerous, countless rows of sharp teeth. Eyes narrowed, Lorcan took a step forward. Sol held up a hand to stop them.

“I assure you, its necessary. I asked for Sedai to be on stand-by in case anything happens.” He gently stuck the tiny needle into Mattea and drew a small amount of blood. The soft, almost inaudible whine that came from Mattea had Lorcan over in an instant, quickly scooping up the child as soon as the needle was removed. Lorcan pressed the edge of Mattea’s blanket to the wound, giving a soft whine of their own.

“Sol-” Lorcan started, but stopped as Sol held out his hand again. Another brief moment of hesitation before Lorcan put Elysia in his hand. He did the same thing with another needle, letting Lorcan reclaim the child as soon as he was done.

“Now we can finally answer our age old question,” he said with a gleeful tone known only to scientists. He dropped part of the blood samples into their own slides and began to view them. After a moment, he put the rest of the samples in separate vials before dropping them in a strange machine. He flipped it on to run, creating a cacophony of noise. He sat there, staring at Lorcan.

“So,” he said, “how’s life?”

“The same as always. The wet season is promising so far. You?”

“Been experimenting on magic depressors. Ulla is in the hospital, again. But we are getting closer to complete independence from magic without influence from the Shade. Just need to find out how to keep the heart from stopping.”

The machine dinged. Sol waited for it to print its results on narrow paper. Once it clicked off, he took the paper and read it over.

“Alright, so, Mattea is the eldest by about a day.”

“How can you tell?”

“When dragons hatch and have been outside of the egg for about an hour or two, our magic levels take a permanent drop thereafter. You know, since we no longer have the egg yolk nurturing us with the surrounding magic. Its unique to dragons, really. We can use this to date the approximate time we have hatched and can compare ages to see who hatched first. Think of it like rings in a tree. All magic is slowly decaying in dragons, and once the magic is gone, we die. How progressed someone’s loss of magic is, the older they are.” Sol pushed his glasses back up his nose and smiled, his mustache and beard giving it an oddly comforting sort of look. He grabbed the toes of his shoes and rocked back and forth like a child. “Mattea is the eldest sibling, but by only a day. I assure you, they will ask. Goodness knows my family had a pecking order due to age. Most do.”

Lorcan looked down at the girls. The bleeding had stopped a while ago and they happily continued eating from their droppers.

“I understand,” said Lorcan.

Sol stopped rocking and his smile faded. “If you need any help, just ask, okay? I can always babysit if you get stressed. Children can be a handful.”

“I appreciate your offer. I will remember.” Lorcan shifted both children to one hand and reached out, patting Sol’s bald head between his horns. “Thank you. Please visit more often. I find you entertaining.”

Sol’s smile came back. He reached up and put his hand on top of Lorcan’s. They stayed like that for a minute before Sol stood up and patted down his robes, his tail moving to curl around him. “Welp, consider me the official grandpa of your children.”

Lorcan gave a smile as they turned to leave. “Sure thing, grandpa.”

Sol waited for the door to his workshop to close before he sat down, feet dangling over the edge of the bench. He wondered, for only a moment, if he should have had children himself. Pass on his intellect and magical prowess to another generation.

“Haha, nah! I would have been a horrible father!” he announced to no one in particular. He chuckled to himself and jumped off of the bench, waddling over to another device to mess around with.


End file.
